Monday 13 June 2016, week 4: Buldir Island, 8:05 For all the talk I’ve heard over the years about how how Buldir breaks people, being here to experience it is something else. I’d been joking that I needed to make it here while I was still young, but now I’m thinking that perhaps being young is no certain key to comfort, either. Living – not just working on Buldir –…
Sunday, 29 May 2016, morning It’s 6:45 in the morning, and the sky is only a shade above inky dark as I gaze out the galley window of the R/V Tiglax. Surely we can’t be in Alaska, Land of the Midnight Sun. That’s where – in my typical Alaska – the sun starts rising by 3:30, providing full daylight well before this time. Where are we? 52º 19′ 750” N…
I’m on my way to a summer on Buldir, where I’ll only have a satellite phone with e-mail. I’m going to try posting by e-mail once a week, and I won’t know if it worked until the end of summer. Due to my capabilities, I won’t be able to share pictures. Sorry! If it works, I’ll share various things about camp life weekly. If not, there may be a post…
Now that my TB test came back negative and I’m at the end of a whirlwind 3 day stay in Fairbanks, it’s time to share. I’m going on a boat!! I know, I know. Here we go again. However, this time I’ve earned my spot as more than labor. To recap: birds across all of the field sites in Alaska Maritime NWR had a pretty disappointing year. Either they didn’t…
Some people who have worked with me in the field or heard stories about fieldwork or my travel adventures know that I have a strange complex that’s become known as “Classic Steph.” It boils down to this notion that I’m not being tough or strong enough or that there’s more I can do. Its other form is that I’ve let the adventure of travel take control of the situation rather…
“Based on your availability with the UAF school schedule, we’re thinking of sending you to the Pribilofs,” Heather said to me near the start of my interview to work for Alaska Maritime NWR in 2010. “Oh awesome!” I responded, as I balanced my cell phone between my ear and shoulder while typing ‘Pribilofs’ into Google Maps. I had no clue which islands she was talking about; I just figured enthusiasm…
On that note, here’s a list of items relating 2010 to the present… Remembered 0. The fog and wind are in charge of work schedules out here. 1. My shins don’t like St. George, especially the hike to the least auklet colony and up First Bluffs. 2. A hand warmer at the nape of the neck provides the glorious feeling of a hot shower. 3. The key to happiness is…
Now that I’ve been back on my original island home for a month, I figured I should recap that with which we’ve been busy. Although my writing frequency doesn’t indicate it, this has honestly been the most relaxed month I’ve ever spent working in the field. I learned before coming back out to St. George that the red- and black-legged kittiwakes generally follow a 2 year productivity cycle of a…
Birding. For anyone familiar with the concept, it probably brings to mind stereotypical images of bespectacled young and old gripping their binoculars, scopes, and cameras for dear life as they search for the elusive bird in the tree, river, or marsh. Birders travel far and wide trying to catch that 5 second glimpse of a bird that enables them to put a check next to a name in their bird…
At this point, I feel a little like this: The main difference is that instead of being worn out from tearing apart my summer home and boating it all to town, I’m exhausted from packing to move to my camp. When packing for an extended stay on St. George, it’s impossible to simply turn on some tunes and start throwing clothing and gear into bags. Only PenAir caters to the…